Snapdragon Book I: My Enemy

by Brandon Berntson

He wondered if Gavin and Eddie had seen the monster as well.

  Once out of the house, Seth was soon running down the street.

  ii

  Clouds moved in from the mountains as the morning progressed. The air was muggy with the tail end of summer’s heat, and Seth was perspiring by the time he made it into town. It took him almost ten minutes. He couldn’t run the whole way and thought about how he should’ve gotten the flat on his bike fixed.

  Cinema 3 took up most of the block from Maple to Main Street. Playing was, ironically, The Hungry Tiger, Passing Down Field, and Evening Star, all of which sounded pretty boring to Seth except for maybe The Hungry Tiger. Malcolm stood in front of the Cinema 3 with his BMX. Eddie stood beside Malcolm with a bike of his own.

  “Hey, Seth,” Malcolm said. He wore a black KISS T-shirt with Gene Simmons in full make-up on the front. Eddie wore his standard white, short-sleeved button-up. “We’re still waiting for Gavin. I don’t know if his mother will let him come.”

  “Why?” Seth asked.

  “I called over there,” Malcolm said. “She doesn’t seem like the nicest person in the world. She was yelling while I was on the phone with him.”

  “Is he okay?” Seth asked.

  Malcolm shrugged. “I talked to him. He said she wouldn’t let him go anywhere, and it wasn’t because of what happened to Howard.”

  Seth shook his head. He looked at Eddie, who nodded. He thought about the day they watched Gavin walk home. “Do you think his mother is really that bad?”

  Malcolm shrugged again. “I don’t know. Gave me a bad impression was all. I hope I didn’t get him in too much trouble.”

  Gavin was walking up the street toward them now in the same direction Seth had come, wearing a tattered jean jacket. Seth, Malcolm, and Eddie were silent until he approached. Gavin’s face was flushed, dirty blonde hair falling into his eyes. He still had a dark, haunted look about him. The Gavin Seth saw at the skate party was not the same boy he was looking at now.

  “Sorry,” Malcolm said. “Did I get you in trouble?”

  “Don’t worry about her,” Gavin said, with contempt. “She can’t think of anything better to do. Fight the good fight.” An undertone of fury masked his words. Seth wondered what went on in Gavin’s home.

  “Anyway, she’s a good excuse to get out of the house,” Gavin said. “Where do you guys want to go?”

  “There’s Samuel’s Creek,” Malcolm suggested. “It isn’t far, either, since not all of us have bikes.”

  “Sounds good,” Gavin said. “Lead the way.”

  They walked west along Maple Street until the houses grew sparse. The road turned to dirt, and they were soon in the surrounding meadow. Samuel’s Creek, a small canal, ran along the outer edge of town to their left. As they walked, the creek widened, turning to a deep, sluggish body of water. The trees grew thicker as they headed north, and soon, they were walking in the shade. The canal made a wide pool under thick cottonwoods before slowly moving south. Several tree branches had fallen across the water, making a makeshift bridge.

  Their journey, however, came to a sudden halt. A boy was playing among the lower branches of the cottonwood, a portly kid with a scraggly mop of bright, carrot hair, and a mass of freckles. The boy hadn’t noticed them yet. Seth had seen him in school—one of Mrs. Higgins’ students. He wore a polo shirt and long, khaki-colored shorts.

  “That’s Albert Papal,” Eddie whispered.

  Albert turned their way. His face turned an even brighter shade of red than his hair, his eyes icy blue. “Oh!” the chubby boy said. “Hello.” He dropped from the branch, landing on his feet in the lush grass by the canal. “I didn’t know I had an audience.” Albert reached down and grabbed a big, walking stick, reminding Seth of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. “Hail, mates!” he said. “‘Tis not a day for kids to be out playing by themselves, I know! Not with the goings-on of our humble town! Who goes, I say?”

  The four boys looked at one another, raising their eyebrows.

  Albert registered the looks and slipped back to his original patois. “Hey, I’ve seen you guys in school. Hey, Eddie!”

  “Hi, Albert,” Eddie said. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Ah, just goofing off. I told my mom I’d play where she could see me. You can see my backyard from here. She’s probably watching us right now.” He pointed to a slate blue house, one of the last at the end of Maple Street. Albert shrugged, as if it made no difference either way. “What are you guys doing out here?”

  “We…” Eddie began, and looked at Malcolm. “We just came out here to mess around too. We didn’t think anyone else was here.”

  “Hey, you mind if I tag along?” Albert said. “We can be, like, pirates or something.” Albert lurched forward, swinging what was supposed to be a useless arm. He clenched his right eye shut, hunching over as if he had a lump on his back. Seth thought he was doing a better impersonation of the Hunchback of Notre Dame than a pirate. Albert righted himself, serious again. “Unless you guys want to be left alone. That’s cool, too.”

  Eddie looked at Malcolm. Seth wondered how they were going to talk about Howard with the chubby boy close by.

  “Sure,” Eddie said. “We can go somewhere else, too.”

  “That’s cool,” Albert replied, shrugging.

  “Let’s just talk about what we came here to talk about,” Gavin said, looking seriously at Malcolm.

  Albert raised his eyebrows.

  Malcolm gave Gavin a look of reproach.

  “Cool, you guys having a meeting or something?” Albert said.

  “That’s what we call it when we get together,” Eddie told him.

  “Hmmm,” Albert said. “So what do you guys want to do? Want to play, like, Darth Vader?” Albert did an imitation of Darth Vader, cutting a light-saber through the air.

  Seth couldn’t help but grin. Albert Papal was amusing.

  “We came out here to talk about Howard Colorcup,” Malcolm said.

  Everyone looked at Malcolm.

  Seth turned to the slow-moving canal. He wondered about Ben. Had the tiger visited any of the others? Should Seth confide how he’d witnessed Howard’s death? Did Ben want him to say anything at all?

  Ben, can you hear me? Seth thought. Should I tell them about you? Is that what you want? Is that why we’re here?

  But there was no reply.

  “You came out here to talk about Howard Colorcup?” Albert asked. “What for?”

  Malcolm looked at Albert for a long time, wondering if the boy could be trusted. Albert didn’t seem like the kind of kid who could talk seriously about anything, let alone murder. If he was out here by himself, what did that suggest? Did he even have any friends?

  “Why do you think?” Malcolm said. “Isn’t it obvious? Something’s going on around here, and whatever it is, isn’t normal. What do you do? Pretend to live in Neverland? You could be next. I could be next. Any one of us.”

  “So what do you plan to do?” Albert said, no longer comical. When his brows came together, his eyes looked more icy blue than before. “Build an army? Get all your water pistols and drown him, whatever it is?”

  Malcolm’s face flushed an angry red. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else,” he said, and pushed his bike along.

  “Wait!” Albert said. He stepped forward and put a hand on Malcolm’s handlebars, looking into the boy’s eyes. “Wait. I’m sorry. Jeez, man, I didn’t mean it. I just don’t know if there’s anything you can do. That’s what I’m talking about! I don’t know if there’s anything any of us can do!”

  “How do you know?” Gavin said.

  Albert looked at Gavin. “Because it isn’t real. Because it’s some kind of monster.”

  The silence was thick. All of them looked around, glancing at one another.

  “You’ve seen it?” Malcolm said, raising his eyebrows.

  “Seen what?” Eddie asked.

  “Yeah,” Gavin said, looking as confused as Eddie. “Seen what?” />
  Albert looked from one boy to the other. His eyes rested on Malcolm. “You’ve seen it, too?”

  Malcolm nodded.

  “Seen what?” Eddie said, impatiently.

  Malcolm looked at Eddie. “This thing that’s killed the Pattersons. Sadie McCall. And now Howard.”

  “You guys have seen it?” Eddie said, looking at each of them in disbelief. “How come you didn’t say anything? You talk like it’s some kind of monster.”

  Malcolm and Albert exchanged a glance.

  “It is,” Malcolm said.

  “You’ve got to be joking, right?” Gavin said, losing patience.

  “It’s no joke,” Seth told him. It was the first time he’d spoken since they arrived. “I’ve seen it, too. I was there when it killed Howard. Kinsey was there, too. We watched Howard die, Gavin, and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it. I’ve seen what it can do. Why is everyone so scared to talk about it? We know what it is. What could we say? That a demon is running through town killing everyone in Ellishome? It’s not human. It’s very real. That’s all anyone knows. It’s a monster, some kind of force. It wants this town and everyone in it.”

  Gavin looked at Seth as if the attack had been deliberate. “This is getting a little out of hand for me,” the boy said. “I mean, I know there’s something weird going on, people are dying, but a monster? That’s crazy.”

  “It’s not crazy at all,” Albert said. “The kid’s right. It’s real. It’s very real.”

  None of them said a word. More was going than they realized. Eddie pined to know more. Gavin was furious, red in the face. Albert was quick to make his presence felt. All playing aside, they were deadly serious.

  “So, what are we supposed to do?” Eddie said, breaking the silence.

  “We have to find a way to destroy it,” Malcolm said. “To beat it, or at least run it out of town.”

  “So what?” Albert asked. “So it can do anything it wants somewhere else?”

  “Would all of you just hold on a goddamn minute!” Gavin said. “What the hell are you talking about? Do you have any idea how ridiculous this sounds? Are you listening to yourselves? Is this why you brought me out here? So you could talk about some stupid monster? Do you hear what you’re saying?”

  Malcolm set his bike down and stepped toward Gavin. Gavin took a step back. Malcolm was calm as he spoke, though an angry flush fused his cheeks. “Gavin,” he said. “You have to listen to us. You have to. What’s going on here is real. If you can’t accept it, then go home. All you’re doing is making it more difficult. Do you understand? I’ve seen this thing. It chased me down Main Street. Seth has seen it, too. Albert obviously knows what we’re talking about. It’s real. And if you deny it, it might come after you. Don’t you get it? You’ll see it soon enough. And I wouldn’t be too anxious if I were you.” Malcolm turned to Eddie. “Have you seen it?”

  Eddie shook his head, eyes wide behind his black-framed glasses, glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of Malcolm’s anger.

  “What the hell is it then?” Gavin asked. “What does it look like?”

  “Like death,” Seth said. “It wears a top hat and rides a horse. It has a long black cape, and—”

  “You’ve got to be kidding?” Gavin said, looking upwards. “What are we dealing with? Some kind of circus clown? A carnival freak show?”

  “Listen, you dumb ass!” Malcolm said, spittle flying from his lips. He clenched his teeth. Gavin looked frightened, eyes wide, his face growing pale. “You’ll think circus clowns when you see it galloping after you! You’ll wish we’d been there to help you! It comes and goes whenever it wants. You can either help us figure out what to do, or you can get lost! Is that clear?” Malcolm took a deep breath.

  Gavin stood in stunned silence, his bottom lip trembling, on the verge of tears.

  Malcolm calmed, suddenly closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, as if regretting every word. The others looked shocked, stunned into silence.

  “We don’t have to get all heated up,” Albert said. “Everything’s cool. There’s no need to go to war.” Albert walked up to Gavin and put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. Gavin didn’t seem to want it there. “This thing is real. It’s not like anything I’ve seen before. And I’ll tell you another thing…there’s something else the blond kid left out—”

  “Seth,” Seth put in.

  “Seth, nice to meet you,” Albert said. “Maybe we’ll get to the introductions later.” He turned back to Gavin. “This thing…it’s already dead. It comes from dead things. It’s real, but it’s not alive. It’s not death, Gavin. It’s worse. It feeds. I don’t know how, but maybe it’s growing stronger the more it kills. It’s worse than death. It’s evil, pure and simple. The quicker you accept it, the better chance you’ll have of staying alive. I’m sorry…but that’s the way it is.”

  The other boys looked at Gavin, who was vibrating with confusion. Seth had the impression Gavin wanted to believe, but something tugged at the boy’s thoughts. And who could blame him?

  My phantom adversary, Seth thought. My immortal companion.

  Silence passed between them. Eddie stood looking at everyone, eyes wide. The conversation had taken a quick, unexpected turn.

  Gavin stood pondering everything he’d heard. The boy looked at each of them, eyes red, chin trembling. Maybe he was trying to figure out why the three of them had similar stories, and he and Eddie had been left out.

  Gavin looked at Eddie. “Do you believe this?”

  Eddie didn’t say anything. The look in his eyes was answer enough. Friends had a way of pulling your leg sometimes, that look said, but this wasn’t one of them. “Yeah,” Eddie said. “Yeah. I think I do.”

  Gavin shook his head and took a deep breath. His shoulders slumped. It was hard for him to grasp, Seth saw, but the boy was trying. Seth thought if he heard a similar story—putting himself in Gavin’s shoes—he’d understand.

  “This is crazy,” Gavin said, shaking his head. His tone, however, was no longer defiant.

  “You’re right,” Malcolm said. “It is crazy. That’s why we have to do something.” Malcolm studied Gavin. “Are you in?”

  Gavin thought for a minute and took a deep breath. “Of course I’m in. I was never out, but I want to know exactly what happened when you saw it? I want to hear every detail.”

  Malcolm nodded. “Good. Let’s get comfortable.”

  Eddie set his bike down next to Malcolm’s. They all sat in a circle in the shade of Samuel’s Creek. Expectation hung in the air.

  Silently, Seth prayed for the boys sitting around him.

  “Who wants to go first?” Malcolm asked.

  “Why don’t you,” Albert volunteered for him.

  Seth looked at Gavin and saw the boy was still struggling with it all. Gavin shook his head.

  Someone was missing, though, Seth thought. Kinsey. He’d call her later and tell her everything. As far as he was concerned, she was one of them.

  Seth looked at Malcolm and nodded.

  Taking a deep breath, Malcolm told his tale.

  iii

  Seth held his breath and listened as Malcolm reiterated his story—chased by Ben’s adversary, running into Jamey Argason, the day he’d come home from school, fearing his grandfather dead—then pedaling back again. Malcolm even told them about coming clean with the butcher.

  “The weird thing is,” Malcolm told them. “I think Jamey believes me. I know that sounds crazy, but I really think he does. Or at least is trying to.”

  Gavin plucked grass from the ground. He shook his head. “How could it do that?” he asked. “How could it just disappear like that?”

  Malcolm shrugged. His guess was as good as anybody else’s. “Maybe…I don’t know…but…that’s twice. Maybe it has a weakness. Twice I was able to get away from it, once when Jamey was involved, and the other time…when I confronted it. Maybe it was just trying to scare me and was just an illusion all along. But I don’t know if I’ll be so
lucky a third time.”

  A breeze brushed against Seth’s face. The canal rippled against the banks. The sky was an intense blue with bright white clouds. Seth plucked grass from the ground as Gavin was doing, then nonchalantly tossed the blades aside.

  “Mine was different,” Albert said, staring into space.

  Everyone looked at the redheaded boy.

  “It didn’t chase me or anything,” he said. “I just remember feeling…ill, creepy all over. Black. Like blackness was everywhere. Suffocating. And…it got cold, like with you Malcolm. It was weird.” Albert took a deep breath. His hands were shaking

  “I was standing in the front yard, and it was the middle of the day. Warm and bright out. Then the wind started to blow. And it got…cold suddenly.” Albert shook his head. “Deathly cold. Like it was under my skin and…it came out of nowhere. I saw the horse down the street, the rider. It turned its head from side to side, as if surveying the entire neighborhood. Slowly. He was walking so slowly, I remember. I stood there just looking at it, like it had some power over me I couldn’t shake. I thought a carnival was in town, the fair like last year, a little surprise, you know? Like when the car shows come to town, but before the actual show, you see a few of them driving down the street.

  “But there was nothing else around. It was just him, this thing. Him on the horse. Everything black.”

  Seth stared at the ground, nodding.

  Albert took a deep breath and continued:

  “Then, he turned. Not the horse, just his face, and he looked at me. He looked right at me. You know how a skull always has that smile? I don’t know. Because you see all the teeth? It was like that. It wasn’t that kind of smile, though. It was different. Like he was deliberately smiling, trying to smile, despite the teeth, making sure I knew about him, knew what he was. That he was here. That he was gonna stay. That—” Albert trailed off.

  Gooseflesh rose on the back of Seth’s neck.

  “It wanted me to know it was going to get me. Like it was introducing itself to me before the real horror came. ‘Sit tight, boy,’ it seemed to say. ‘You’ll get your turn.’ It was going to get all of us, and there was nothing we could do about it.” Tears filled Albert’s eyes. “This feeling came over me. I was suffocating, all this weight pressing down on me, on my back, on the back of my head, my chest, all at the same time, making me sick. Everywhere. Everything around was different. Darker. Like my vision turned black. Does that make any sense? Like something came in, clouding everything I saw. The sun disappeared. I couldn’t breathe, and I started to hyperventilate. My eyes and his eyes locked together. And I saw…things…” Albert wiped tears from his eyes. “I saw things. Evil things, children screaming, tortured, wrapped in chains. And this city…like a huge abandoned city with giant towers, but…just barren and empty…and…cold. There were spiders everywhere, giant spiders. The thing held its arms out, and it just kept smiling. It nodded slowly, looking around, as though it were turning Ellishome into this desolate place, and it was just cold all the time…